Mission and History

Holy Spirit Care Services is proud to continue a mission and vision inspired by Fr Arnold Janssen, a German priest who founded the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters order over 100 years ago.

Our committed team of over 250 men and women continue to find inspiration from the example of the Holy Spirit Sisters who have a lasting legacy of providing aged care services in Queensland.

At Holy Spirit Care Services our Community Model of Aged Care and Services ensures that our policies and outcomes reflect our core mission: to touch and enhance the lives of people through our Christian culture of quality care and service.

While the environment is constantly changing in health and aged care services, the values and principles which define our service do not. They remain the guiding principle defining why we exist and why we do the things we do.

Our Story

The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters are an international order of Catholic women living and working in more than 40 countries. They are an official “religious congregation” within the Catholic Church, with members (after some years) making a vowed commitment to the loving service of God and their sisters and brothers in need around the world.

They were founded in 1889 in Steyl, Holland by a German priest, Arnold Janssen, and two German women, Helena Stollenwerk and Hendrina Stenmanns.

From the very beginning, their vision has been to share God’s love and the knowledge of Jesus Christ with people of different nationalities and cultures, in whatever ways they can.

The Holy Spirit Sisters came to Brisbane, Australia, in 1944 as refugees (and POW’s) from the war in Papua New Guinea, where many lost their lives. In 1945 they obtained a farm property in Aspley (now Carseldine) and established their Order.

In 1946 they purchased the old Lister private hospital on Wickham Terrace, central Brisbane, and set up Holy Spirit Hospital.

Many people would know of, or remember, the Holy Spirit Hospital on Wickham Terrace in Brisbane, which the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters owned from its establishment in 1946 to its recent sale in 2002. For over half a century Holy Spirit Hospital built a reputation as a leading private health care facility with a unique range of specialist medical and surgical services, combining clinical excellence with modern technology delivered with compassion, love and respect for the dignity of each person.

St Arnold Janssen
1837 – 1909

Bl. Helena Stollenwerk
1852 – 1900

Bl. Josepha Stenmanns
1852 – 1903

Holy Spirit Hospital Wickham Terrace

Holy Spirit Northside Hospital

In 1962 the Sisters opened Holy Spirit Home for the Aged at Carseldine.

Holy Spirit Home is now one of the largest, oldest (celebrating 50 years in 2012), most innovative and most respected aged care facilities in Australia.

All the entities that were established and founded by the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters are now administered and governed by lay men and women in partnership with the Sisters, commited to one shared vision and the continuation of a mission rich in tradition and the healing ministry of Jesus.

The Australian Congregation’s logo (below) depicts the spirit of God (the dove) who is at the centre of all creation and within every person.

All of the institutions that have been set up and administered by the Sisters use a derivation of this logo, which was originally created by Arnold Janssen in the nineteenth century shown in bronze above.